


Painted Birds

by audreycritter



Series: Cor Et Cerebrum [8]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, New Year's Eve, Sibling Bonding, ficlet fluff, fingernail polish, story filler, tumblr flash fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 22:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9349679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audreycritter/pseuds/audreycritter
Summary: This is pure fluff mini-fic filler for a holiday chapter of Developmental Milestones. Cassandra Cain and Jason Todd spend a couple minutes together on New Year's Eve after escaping the Wayne Manor Gala.





	

“Hold still,” Jason Todd mumbled irritably, his lower lip caught between his teeth in an expression of intense concentration. Cassandra Cain was not moving and she knew she had not moved more than the gentle inhale and exhale of breath as she perched on the dark red armchair with her hand on her knee.

 

Jason was kneeling, his tall and broad frame bent over her outstretched hand while he held a tiny black brush and pushed neon green polish across her fingernails. His hands shook slightly-- not from nerves or emotion, Cass knew-- because they always shook when he wasn't smoking or holding a weapon.

 

“Good,” she said, admiring the finished nails when he sat back on his heels with an explosive sigh. 

 

“You could make Steph do this,” he grumbled as she moved her unpainted left hand to her knee. He dipped the brush into the tiny glass jar.

 

Cass glanced over to the couch where Damian and Steph were leaning against each other, in their New Year’s Eve tuxedo and dress, respectively, asleep on the couch in front of the TV with a video game menu on screen.

 

“No,” Cass said. “You.”

 

“You're doing mine next,” he said, holding the jar and brush in one hand and pulling his bow tie off his neck with the other. He tossed it over his shoulder and readjusted how he was kneeling. “My fricking foot is falling asleep.”

 

Cass slipped off the chair and sat cross legged on the floor and he mirrored her pose. He set the jar on the chair and unbuttoned the collar of his shirt.

 

“I'm suffocating in this shit,” he said, running a hand through his hair.

 

Cass looked down at her own dress: she liked it and it was comfortable. She'd spent three hours shopping with Stephanie to find something she really liked and the effort had paid off.

 

“Fuck,” he gasped, and her head snapped up. The nail polish had tipped and a small puddle of neon green paint had pooled on the red chair. He scrubbed at it with his cuff and swore again and the spot merely grew, across the chair and over his shirt. 

 

Cass laughed at the contrast, the opposite colors red and green smearing on the furniture and on him. 

 

“Don't-- Cass-- it's not, Alfred’s gonna kill me,” Jason snapped, sitting back pale and wide-eyed. “Fricking hot sauce.”

 

“A robin,” Cass smiled, tapping his nose with one finger. “Red and green. Alfred doesn't kill.”

 

“Gimme your hand,” Jason grumbled, eyeing the spot. 

 

“Alfred hates this chair,” Cass assured him. There was still a burst of light and joy inside her, the hope of a new year. She didn't think Alfred would be upset.

 

“If you say so,” Jason said, his lip between his teeth again as he focused. “God, your hands are so little.”

 

A minute later, she was painting his nails. His hands were large and rough and they still shook, but she was deft with the brush and kept the lines clean and didn't mark his skin. 

 

“Happy new year,” she said quietly, blowing on the paint to dry it.

 

“You, too,” he said, admiring her work. “I gotta say, you're the best thing I got out of this family deal.”

 

“I am,” she said with a smirk, “don't forget.”


End file.
